The Turkish Angora is a captivating breed, celebrated for its elegant appearance and graceful demeanor. Renowned for its fine, silky coat that shimmers with movement and a lithe, muscular body, this medium-sized cat embodies an ethereal, flowing motion. This guide delves into the breed’s standards, from physical characteristics to a detailed exploration of its diverse color palette.
Breed Standards: The Essence of the Turkish Angora
The ideal Turkish Angora is a balanced and graceful feline, characterized by a fine, silky coat that contrasts beautifully with its firm, long, and muscular body. The breed standard emphasizes a cat of angles and straight lines, medium in size, and free from exaggerated features, creating an overall impression of ethereal beauty.
Head and Facial Features
The head is small to medium, proportionate to the body, and forms a smooth, medium-long wedge. A notable feature is the profile, composed of two flat planes: a flat head top and a nose line that meets at an angle slightly above the eyes. While slight variations in plane length are permissible, equal lengths are preferred, with no “break” or discernible stop. The muzzle is a continuation of the wedge’s smooth lines, lacking pronounced whisker pads or a pinched appearance.
Ears are large, broad at the base, pointed, and tufted, set high on the head, close together, and held erect. The eyes are large, almond-shaped, and slant slightly upward, conveying an open expression. Eye color is not linked to coat color and can vary widely, including shades of blue, green, green-gold, amber, and odd-eyed (one blue eye and one of the other colors). While no specific points are awarded for eye color, deeper, richer tones are generally preferred, with odd-eyed cats expected to have similar color depth in both eyes. The nose is medium in length and even in width when viewed from the front.
Body Structure and Proportions
The Turkish Angora possesses a medium-sized body that is finely boned yet possesses firm muscularity. Overall balance, grace, and fineness of bone are paramount, more so than sheer size. The body is long and slender, with greater depth than width, and is oval rather than round. Shoulders and hips are of equal width, and the rump is slightly higher than the shoulders.
Legs are long, with hind legs being longer than the front. Paws are small, round, and dainty, with tufts between the toes being a preferred trait. The tail is long, tapering from a wide base to a narrow end, and should feature a full brush.
Coat Characteristics
The Turkish Angora is a single-coated breed. While the length of the body coat can vary, the tail and ruff are expected to be long, full, finely textured, and possess a silk-like sheen. “Britches” – longer hair on the hind legs – should also be apparent.
Penalties and Disqualifications
Specific characteristics are penalized or can lead to disqualification. Penalties are given for extremes such as an overly coarse appearance, broad chest or hips, or a tendency towards miniaturization. A noticeable and palpable curvature in profile is also penalized. Kittens may exhibit a growth bump on the forehead or nose without penalty.
Disqualifications include a cobby body type, crossed eyes, incorrect number of toes, a stop or break in profile, and malocclusion. Any color or pattern indicating hybridization, such as chocolate, lilac, point patterns (with or without white), or a directional kink in the tail, will result in disqualification.
Exploring the Turkish Angora Color Palette
All colors of the Turkish Angora are considered of equal value, although specific preferences exist for certain traits. Locktes and buttons (small white spots or marks) are not penalized, but sound color is generally preferred.
Solid and Smoke Colors
- White: Pure white, with pink nose leather and paw pads.
- Black: Dense, coal-black from root to tip, with black nose leather and black or brown paw pads.
- Blue: A lighter shade of blue is preferred, with blue nose leather and paw pads.
- Cream: A single, level shade of buff cream, with pink nose leather and paw pads.
- Black Smoke: A white basecoat deeply tipped with black, appearing black when at rest but showing the white undercoat in motion.
- Blue Smoke: Similar to black smoke but tipped with blue.
- Red Smoke: White basecoat tipped with red.
- Cream Smoke: White basecoat tipped with cream.
- Blue-Cream Smoke: White basecoat tipped with blue and cream.
- Tortoiseshell Smoke: White basecoat tipped with black, red, and shades of red.
Tabby Patterns
Turkish Angoras can exhibit various tabby patterns, including classic, mackerel, spotted, and ticked. The specific color variations within tabby patterns are extensive:
- Silver Tabby: Pale clear silver ground color with dense black markings.
- Brown Tabby: Brilliant coppery-brown ground color with dense black markings.
- Blue Tabby: Pale bluish ivory ground color with very deep blue markings.
- Red Tabby: Deep, rich red ground color with markings of the same shade.
- Cream Tabby: Very pale cream ground color with buff or cream markings.
- Blue-Silver Tabby: Pale bluish silver ground color with deep blue markings.
- Red Silver Tabby: Off-white ground color with red markings.
- Cream Silver Tabby: Off-white ground color with cream markings.
- Patched Tabby: A combination of tabby patterns with patches of red or cream.
Bi-Color and Parti-Color Variations
This category encompasses cats with white combined with other colors or patterns:
- Bi-Color: Includes all expressions of white spotting, from minimal white (a button or locket) to full van patterns. Examples include Black & White, Blue & White, and Red & White.
- Parti-Color: Features combinations of solid colors or tabby patterns with white. This includes:
- Calico: White with distinct patches of black and red.
- Dilute Calico: White with distinct patches of blue and cream.
- Tortoiseshell and White: Black with patches of red or intermingled red areas, plus white.
- Blue-Cream and White: Blue with patches of cream or intermingled cream areas, plus white.
- Tabby and White: Various tabby patterns combined with white.
- Smoke and White: Smoke variations combined with white.
- Calico Smoke: White with patches of black and red smoke.
- Dilute Calico Smoke: White with patches of blue and cream smoke.
- Tortoiseshell Smoke and White: White basecoat, deeply tipped with black, red, and shades of red, with white.
- Blue-Cream Smoke and White: White basecoat, deeply tipped with blue and cream, with white.
Shaded and Other Colors
- Shaded Silver: White basecoat with a mantle of black shading, becoming paler on the chin, chest, and stomach.
- Blue Shaded Silver: Similar to shaded silver but with blue shading.
- Red Shaded: White basecoat with a mantle of red shading.
- Cream Shaded: White basecoat with a mantle of cream shading.
- Tortoiseshell Shaded: White basecoat with a mantle of black and red shading.
- Blue-Cream Shaded: White basecoat with a mantle of blue and cream shading.
OTAC (Other Turkish Angora Colors)
This classification includes any other color or pattern not specifically listed, provided it does not exhibit traits of hybridization such as chocolate, lavender, or Himalayan patterns.
The Turkish Angora is a breed rich in both physical beauty and genetic diversity, offering a wide array of stunning coat colors and patterns for admirers to appreciate.
